Stanar je potpisao ugovor.

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be), and here it helps form the past tense.

So the structure is:

• stanar = the tenant
• je = has/is
• potpisao = signed

In Serbian, the common past tense is made with:

• a present-tense form of biti
• plus the past participle

So je potpisao means signed / has signed, depending on context.

Potpisati is the dictionary form (the infinitive), meaning to sign.

In the sentence, you need the past participle, because the action happened in the past. For a masculine singular subject, that participle is:

• potpisao

So:

• potpisati = to sign
• potpisao = signed (masculine singular)

If the subject changed, the form would change too:

• Stanarka je potpisala ugovor. = The female tenant signed the contract.
• Stanari su potpisali ugovor. = The tenants signed the contract.

Stanar is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

Here:

• stanar = subject
• je potpisao = verb phrase
• ugovor = object

So stanar answers the question Who signed?
Answer: Stanar.

Yes — ugovor is in the accusative, but for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks exactly like the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: ugovor = contract
• accusative: ugovor = contract

That is normal.

Compare this with a masculine animate noun, where accusative usually changes:

• stanar (nom.) = tenant
• stanara (acc.) = tenant

But with ugovor, because it is inanimate, nominative and accusative are the same in the singular.

You know from sentence structure and meaning.

In Stanar je potpisao ugovor:

• stanar is the one performing the action
• ugovor is the thing being signed

So even though ugovor looks like a nominative form, its role in the sentence is accusative/direct object.

This is very common in Serbian, especially with masculine inanimate nouns.

Serbian has no articles like English a/an/the.

So stanar can mean:

• a tenant
• the tenant

And ugovor can mean:

• a contract
• the contract

The exact meaning depends on context, not on a separate article.

That is one of the big differences from English.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order, because cases help show what each word is doing.

The neutral order here is:

• Stanar je potpisao ugovor.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis:

• Ugovor je potpisao stanar. = It was the tenant who signed the contract.
• Potpisao je stanar ugovor. = possible, but more marked/stylistic

However, in normal learning situations, Stanar je potpisao ugovor is the safest and most neutral version.

Also note that the short form je usually stays in the second position of the clause, which is a very important Serbian pattern.

In Serbian, short unstressed words called clitics often come in the second position of the sentence or clause. Je is one of them.

So in:

• Stanar je potpisao ugovor

the first unit is Stanar, and then je comes right after it.

If another element came first, je would usually follow that element:

• Danas je stanar potpisao ugovor.
• U ponedeljak je stanar potpisao ugovor.

This is why you often see je very early in the sentence.

Yes. Potpisao comes from potpisati, which is a perfective verb.

That means it presents the action as completed: the signing was done.

This fits naturally with a sentence like:

• Stanar je potpisao ugovor. = The tenant signed the contract.

The imperfective partner is usually potpisivati:

• Stanar je potpisivao ugovor.

That would suggest something like:

• he was signing it
• he used to sign it
• he was in the process of signing it

So aspect matters a lot:

• potpisao = completed act
• potpisivao = ongoing/repeated/process-like act

This is the past tense commonly called perfekat in Serbian.

It is formed with:

• present tense of biti
• past participle

Here that gives:

• je
  • potpisao

In everyday Serbian, this is the normal way to say that someone did something in the past.

The participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.

So:

• Stanar je potpisao ugovor. = male tenant
• Stanarka je potpisala ugovor. = female tenant
• Stanari su potpisali ugovor. = male/mixed group of tenants
• Stanarke su potpisale ugovor. = female tenants

Notice both parts change:

• je → su for plural
• potpisao → potpisala / potpisali / potpisale

Stanar is a masculine noun, and it normally refers to a male tenant.

For a female tenant, Serbian usually uses:

• stanarka

So the sentence specifically suggests a male tenant unless context says otherwise.

This is different from English, where tenant is not grammatically gendered.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Stanar je potpisao ugovor
• roughly: STAH-nar yeh poht-PEE-sah-oh OO-goh-vor

A few useful points:

• j is pronounced like English y in yes
• je sounds roughly like yeh
• r in Serbian is rolled or tapped
• stress is not usually marked in normal writing, so learners usually pick it up by listening

The most important pronunciation point in this sentence for English speakers is usually:

• je = yeh, not like English jee